1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of reclaiming an aluminum alloy and a stainless steel alloy from an air bag inflator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Air bags are inflated to restrain a vehicle occupant during a vehicle collision. The air bags are inflated by gas. The gas is typically provided by ignition of a gas generating material contained in an air bag inflator. The air bag inflator often has aluminum parts, typically the inflator housing, and stainless steel parts, typically filter screens for filtering the gas as it flows into the air bag.
Attempts have been made to reclaim aluminum alloys used in parts of the air bag inflator. Manual or mechanical stripping has been employed to separate the aluminum alloy parts from the other parts of the air bag inflator. Mechanical stripping is relatively expensive and labor intensive.
Cupola smelting has been used to reclaim metals from an air bag inflator. The complete air bag inflator is heated in a cupola furnace to melt the metal parts. The resulting metal end product is an aluminum alloy metal contaminated with other metals including stainless steel. The contaminated metal end product has little industrial application and nominal economic value.